War's Beginning
by BeverlyAnna
Summary: When Lily tries starting a duel with James, he knows that something is seriously wrong. Because Lily won't speak to him, he's forced to rat them both out for dueling. Alone in detention, can the two have a conversation about the trouble that's eating Lily?


Lily Evans was not planning on getting detention. In fact, it was the last thing on her mind when Professor McGonagall asked her to stay after class. The conversation the two shared was short and apologetic, but it ended with the following verdict: Lily had been reported for dueling in the halls, and because of that, she would be spending her Saturday cleaning trophies.

James Potter had every intention of spending his Saturday in detention. After all, he was the one who had ratted himself out. It wasn't the ideal situation, and normally he would have been completely against the notion, but he couldn't think of another way to make sure he had Lily's attention.

Lily entered the Trophy Room with her hair pulled up high and her lips slanted down low. She had only one goal for the evening, and that was to get through detention without speaking to James.

It was evident as soon as he arrived that she would be unsuccessful.

"Evening, Lily," he said in a voice so formal they could have been strangers.

She gave him a tight-lipped smile and then crossed her arms over her chest.

"Is it the silent treatment then?" he asked, approaching her slowly. His close proximity demanded her attention.

She met his eyes and confirmed, solely through her expression, that it would indeed be the silent treatment.

"That's fine," James said, giving her a sly smile. "Actually, it's preferable. I've been trying to get you to listen to me for days. It's good to know you won't be interrupting me for once."

In return, Lily pushed back her shirt sleeve in order to check the time on her watch. 8:05 — their detention proctor was late.

James grinned as she took note of the time. "I've got the lads distracting McGonagall. We should have, say, 30 minutes to ourselves?"

"James," Lily snarled, "you —"

"Ah," he cut her off, "what happened to the silent treatment, love?"

"You'd do well to appreciate the silent treatment, Potter," she snapped venomously, turning around and trudging away from him. "It could be the only thing preventing me from hexing you into next week."

"I appreciate the fervor," James stated, "but part of the reason I landed us in detention was because there are no wands allowed."

"You?" Lily demanded, whirling on her heel and marching back in James's direction. "_You _got us put in detention?" She kept walking until there was less than a step between them. Once there, she crossed her arms and stared directly into James's murky eyes.

"Lily," James said, suddenly sagging and dropping all sense of bravado, "I —"

"Even bloody prefects don't report underage magic in the corridors," she interrupted him violently.

"I didn't have a choice," James retorted, adjusting his volume to match hers. "You've been ignoring me for days. Every time I try to start a conversation, you suddenly spot Mary across the room, or you start talking about Charms, or you sprint off without a reason."

Lily took a wide step back, leaving an unnatural girth between them. She let her arms fall to her sides and then murmured, "I have my reasons."

"Reasons that justify starting a _duel_, Lily?" James asked, almost teasing.

"First of all," she said, cheeks turning so red that they rivaled her hair, "it wasn't a duel because you wouldn't jinx me back." She paused for a moment, brushing her hair into her face in an attempt to hide the fact that she was getting upset. When she picked up again, her voice was almost a whisper. "Secondly, we wouldn't have been fighting at all if you'd just given me space like I'd asked."

"Everyone has been giving you space, Lils," James said, obviously relieved about the fact that they were having a rational conversation. "You need to unload on someone."

Lily took another step back, and for a moment reverted to the silent treatment once more. Her eyes glazed over James, and she unleashed a very unstable breath.

"Lily, please," he pleaded, walking towards her and reaching an arm out in her direction. "I just want —"

"_Don't _touch me, James," she pronounced, her voice breaking.

"Okay," he said, immediately tossing his arms up in surrender. "Okay. But, Lily, you have to tell me what's going on. What's changed?"

"Nothing," she said. She spoke with such conviction that if she hadn't been acting so differently, James might have believed her.

"I'm not blind," he replied quietly. "I know things are different. So, c'mon, Evans. Open up."

"It's not different," Lily persisted. "It's just…"

"Just what," he prodded. James lowered his arms and began to approach her again.

"We're getting too close, James," she blurted.

"Too close?" he repeated dumbly, stopping in his tracks.

She nodded at him before turning away from his direction and approaching the edge of the room. Lily pushed her back against a trophy case and then slid to the ground, the picture of dejection.

"I'm not following you," James said, walking to her and sitting across from her on the floor.

"It's just what I said," Lily replied, staring intently at her feet. She wrapped her arms around her legs and refused to lift her gaze.

"Say it again," James prompted. When she remained quiet, James found a stray strand of her hair and gave it a tug. "Lily —"

"I _said_," she spit, batting his hand out of the way, "that we're getting too close. I'm going to die, and —"

"You're going to _what_?" James demanded, taking a turn being the indignant one.

"Not today," Lily brushed him off, "but by the end of this war, I'm going to be dead."

"Lily, do you hear yourself?" James pressed. This time, when he grabbed her hand she didn't shrug him off. But she didn't reciprocate, either.

"Of course I hear myself," she said, looking down to his hand pressed over hers. "It's all I can think about some days. It'll be easier... better… safer, even, if you just stay away from me."

"You're saying this because you want to fight in the war?"

"Because I _have _to fight in the war," she corrected him, looking up to meet his eyes.

"Well, so do I," James said seriously before she could continue. Lily scoffed, and James brusquely continued, "I do. This whole thing is so unbelievably wrong. The idea that muggleborns, and people like Remus, and anyone who doesn't want to buy into this terrorism is —"

"James, listen for a second here," she cut him off. "It's great to see you be so noble, but you have a family seat. You're from a respected pureblood family. I —"

"Lily," James said, squeezing the top of her hand, "my family is one hundred percent invested in stopping this mess. My mother's at the head of the Auror Department. We've been considered blood-traders since my parents first got married. You don't need to be starting duels with me because you're worried that we're getting too close."

"James, people like you and I are _supposed _to duel," she said, clumsily thrusting his hand off hers.

"People like you and I?" he repeated dumbly. "That can't possibly mean what I think it's supposed to mean. You know what kind of people we are, Lils? Stubborn. Funny. Overwhelmingly attractive. Dedicated. Brave, I s'pose."

Lily resisted the urge to give him a small smile and instead shook her head back and forth. "You know exactly what I mean, James."

"Lily, what provoked this?" he asked, grabbing for her hand again. She accepted it easily this time. "You've been outspoken about your blood status since second year, and you know that I've been right behind you."

"I do know it," she said softly. She looked away from his eyes again, and down to her fingers laced with his. With a heavy sigh, she began, "That's another part of the problem, James, because other people have started to notice it, too."

"What are you —"

"I've gotten some… rather threatening letters," she confessed. As James went to make a remark, she looked up at him quickly and continued, "I suppose they're more like warnings. They're nothing to worry over, and I know who they're coming from."

"They must be something to worry over," he said, moving so close to her that their knees were pressed together, "if you're trying to change who your friends are."

"I just don't want to make things difficult for you and Sirius, okay? And before you say anything else, that look on your face is the _exact _reason I didn't tell you about this."

The look on his face was contorted into something unrecognizable. "What are they threatening, Lily? Who's threatening it?" he demanded.

"It's doesn't matter," she shrugged him off. "Just, the letters said that if didn't distance myself from you, then they'd start causing trouble for both of us."

There was something in Lily's voice that made him stop glowering. He looked her over as she chewed her lip, and then he quietly remarked, "It's Snape, isn't it?"

Lily thought about denying it, but the blush in her cheeks had already given her away. "Not just him, James —"

"Him and his lot of future Death Eaters?" James spat. "They're threatening us, and you didn't think to tell me?"

"I just thought —"

"You thought I'd want to retaliate," James said with a nod. "Well, don't you? You're preparing for a war, Lily. It's got to start eventually."

"It doesn't have to start like this," she tried to argue weakly. She knew the words were a lie. She'd been lying to herself for days, simply delaying the inevitable.

"They'd kill you if they saw you outside of school," James said, his voice dripping with disgust.

"I know," she replied quietly, unable to meet James's eyes.

"You need your friends now more than ever."

"I know that, too." James had to strain his ears in order to hear her.

"Then why —"

"Because I'm afraid James. I'm afraid of dragging you into this, and I'm afraid of both of us getting hurt. It's easier to fight with you than it is to fight against them."

"We have to." She nodded, unable to find words. "I'll be by your side for everything, Lily, but you have to tell me about things like this." He gave her hand a sharp squeeze. "If one of us goes down, we go down together."

Lily couldn't help it then. She pulled her hands from his, but only so that she could launch herself at James. As he embraced her in a tight hug, they were both shaking, a little too nervous about everything to come.

When McGonagall arrived 15 minutes later, she turned on her heel and left them in their embrace. Detention seemed unimportant in light of current events. Surely a supportive friend could do them both more good than cleaning trophies ever could.


End file.
